Other Ethical

Schools of
thought

Ethical Relativism

also known as moral relativism, this ethical doctrine

claims that there are no universal or absolute moral
principles. Standards of right and wrong are always
relative to a particular culture or society. The moral
opinion of one individual is as good as any other, for
there is no objective basis for saying that a particular
action is right or wrong apart from a specific social
group.

Ethical Relativism

Strengths every culture has its own norm of moral

actions. Some societies consider as right several kinds
of actions or practices that other societies consider as
wrong.

One is considered too ambitious, if not arrogant, in

claiming that one knows absolute and objective ethical
principles that are true, valid and binding on all
peoples.

One can see all varying traditional practices attest to

the moral claims of ethical relativism. Whether an
action is regarded right or wrong depends upon the
society judging it.

Ethical Relativism

Criticisms and objections ethical relativism contradicts

common beliefs and ordinary experiences in several
ways. It appears to be self-contradictory and
inconsistent. It encounters difficulty in being selfconsistent and in acting in accordance with ones own
moral claim.

In the medical context In health care, medical

personnel usually encounter the conflict that arises
between scientific medical procedures and certain
religious aspects of ethical relativism taken in the
medical context.

Situation Ethics

Joseph Fletcher, an American Protestant medical doctor

He mentions three approaches to morality: legalism,

antinomianism, and situationism.

Situation Ethics
Legalistic

approach prescribes
certain general moral
prescriptions, laws, or norms by
which to judge, determine, and
settle the rightness and
wrongness of human judgments
or decisions. (Normative)

Considered by Fletcher as too restrictive and circumscribed,

and hence inadequate for and insensitive to the complexity of
ever-varying situations in which one finds oneself.

Situation Ethics
Antinomian

frees the Christian

from the obligations of the moral
law in which case there are no
absolute precepts or moral
principles by which to be guided
in making decisions.

Too liberal and unconventional, which may lead to anarchy

and moral chaos.

Situation Ethics
Situationism

states that the

moral norm depends upon a given
situation, but whatever this
situation may be, one must always
act in the name of Christian love.

Contextualism

What is Christian love?

Situation Ethics

Fletcher cites three types of love, namely eros, philia

and agape. Christian love best exemplifies agape. It
refers to ones care and concern and kindness towards
others. Love of and for ones neighbor just as Christ
exemplified is a love in which one cares for the wellbeing of another, regardless of his station in life. It is
characterized by charity, respect and responsibility
towards the other.

Erotic and filial love are ambivalent and both can deflect
to the other. Both are biased and partial; they have
preferences and inclinations. They are usually motivated
by selfish interests and ulterior motives.

Situation Ethics

Six propositions of Fletcher as the Fundamentals of

Christian conscience:

The first one points to the nature of love. The second

reduces all values to love. The third equates love and
justice. The fourth frees love from sentimentality. The
fifth states the relation between means and ends. The
sixth validates every judgment within its own context.

Situation Ethics

Proposition I: Only one thing is intrinsically good,

namely love: nothing else.

Proposition II: The ultimate norm of Christian decisions

is love: nothing else.

Proposition III: Love and justice are the same, for

justice is love distributed.

Situation Ethics

Proposition IV: Love wills the neighbors good whether

we like him or not.

Proposition V: Only the end justifies the means: nothing

else.

Proposition VI: Decisions ought to be made situationally,

not prescriptively

Situation Ethics
In

the medical context Situational ethics

combines love and justice in treating ill
patients. Health care professionals should not
only be fair to patients; they should also show
loving care and concern for them. People who
need immediate medical service should be given
their due within the context of justice and love.
(what ought to be done) It seems that what
makes an act good is whether it is expedient,
edifying, constructive and humane; whether it
builds up rather than destroys, condemns, or
kills an innocent individual.

Situation Ethics

Difficulties Contextualism may

encourage ethical relativism. It may
serve to legitimize personal interests and
ulterior motives in certain instances
among those who make moral decisions.
Medical misuse and abuse may be
surreptitiously committed under the
pretext of agapeic expediency. In short,
this does not always guarantee an
objective and impartial judgment.

Pragmatism

Charles Peirce and William James,

William

James medical degree from

Cambridge; taught ana and physio at
Harvard in 1873; Charles Peirce was a
philosopher, physicist, mathematician,
and founder and inventor of the term
pragmatism.

it

has been Americas most distinctive

and major contribution to the world
of philosophy.

Pragmatism

Pragmatism

is more of a theory of knowledge,

truth and the meaning than of morality. Moral
interests and moral language, however, appear
in almost every important passage of Jamess
writing on the subject. Pragmatism holds that
the true and valid form of knowledge is one in
which is practical, workable, beneficial and
useful.

Being practical, it is one that we can practice, and it produces practical results

Being workable, it is one that we can put to work, it can be worked out, and it works

Being beneficial, it benefits people

Being useful, it is one that can be used to attain good results.

Pragmatism
If

an idea works or brings forth

good results, it is true. The truth
of an idea is determined by its
consequences; if it is devoid of
results, it is inconsequential, and
hence meaningless.

Truth happens to an idea; it becomes true and is made true by events.

Its verity is, in fact, an event, a process: the process namely of its
verifying itself, its verification. Its validity is the process of its
validation.

Forms of Pragmatism

Experimentalism because of its claim that truth must

always be verified and tested by experiment. (The
latter determines the truth or falsify an idea)

Forms of Pragmatism

Instrumentalism John Dewey; Since ideas are

instruments of actions and tools for solving problems. If
ideas prove to be effective instruments, they are true;
otherwise they are false.

Forms of Pragmatism

Reconstructionism insofar as ideas are instruments in

reconstructing experiences. For one to learn, one must
reconstruct human experiences and relate them to
ones own. Learning, or education for that matter,
enables us to rebuild and reconstruct human
experiences.

Forms of Pragmatism

Progressivism ideas are true if and when they help and

individual progress, grow and develop intellectually, as
well as morally through his own experience and selfactivity.

Pragmatism
the medical context truth
happens to ideas and is not a
quality or property of ideas.
Truth is made true by events
or happenings.

In

Drug testing to test the effectiveness or toxicity of a

particular drug, testing it on consenting patients must be
done.

Contraception which method is the most effective?

Pragmatism
the pragmatist is
accused of being too
materialistic because of a
pragmatic claim that truth is
the cash value of an idea. The
pragmatist is also accused of
being too individualistic.

Difficulties

Analize

Difficulties for Utilitarianism and Deontology

Natural Law Ethics

Assumes many names by virtue of its historical

development. Thomistic Ethics, after St. Thomas of
Aquinas, a profound Italian philosopher and theologian,
who gave the doctrine its most influential formulation
and articulation in the thirteenth century.

Natural Law Ethics

Scholastic Ethics after the brilliant teachings of a group

of scholars, known as the scholars or schoolmen,
headed by St. Thomas of Aquinas himself in the
University of Paris during the middle ages.

Christian Ethics and/or Roman Catholic Ethics insofar

as the churchs contemporary versions of the theory are
mostly elaborations and interpretations of St. Thomass
basic ethical precepts.

Natural Law Ethics

Natural Law Ethics, because it claims that there exists

a natural moral law which is manifested by the natural
light of human reason, demanding the preservation of
the natural order and forbidding its violation.

Natural Law Ethics

The source of the moral law is reason itself. It directs

us towards the good as the goal of our action, and
that good is discoverable within our nature. Do
good, avoid evil

Natural Law Ethics

Synderesis inherent ability of every

individual to distinguish the good from the
bad. Hence, certain moral principles are
objective and can be found in the nature of
things through reason and reflection.

The voice of reason in synderesis is no less

than the manifestation of the moral law. In
short, moral law is the dictate of the voice
of reason which is expressed in the moral
principle The good must be done, and
evil, avoided.

The voice of conscience, insofar as the

latter refers to the immediate judgment of

Natural Law Ethics

What is good?

The human good is that which is suitable to or

proper for human nature. Whenever an act is
suitable to human nature then it is good and must
be done. Hence, you are following and obeying
the voice of reason (conscience). It is for this
reason that other Thomists would consider human
nature as the proximate norm of morality. The
good is built into human nature, and it is that to
which we are directed by our natural inclinations
as both physical and rational creatures.

Natural Law Ethics

3 Natural inclinations:

Self-preservation

Just dealings with others

Propagation of our species

Natural Law Ethics

Aristotles

Teleological Concept of Nature

everything serves a purpose

This

is the basis of St. Thomass argument that

each member of the human race serves a purpose
intended by nature. The theologian in St. Thomas
further holds that this teleological design of the
universe is attributed to the planning of a
creator, namely God. Although the natural law is
discoverable in the universe, its ultimate source
is divine wisdom and Gods eternal law. (Natural
law is the divine law expressed in human nature)

Natural Law Ethics Principles

The principle of stewardship Human life comes from

God, and no individual is the master of his/her own
body. We are merely caretakers or stewards, with the
responsibility of protecting and cultivating spiritual and
bodily functions. We are obliged to take good care of
ourselves, to maintain a sound mind and body, and to
safeguard our dignity. Man is given dominion over all
created things. A useful dominion of all things by man
requires, therefore, a reasonable and responsible use.
He is accountable to God for what he is and what he
makes of himself.

Natural Law Ethics Principles

The principle of double effect two kinds of result, a good

and a bad one, from a good act.

Conditions to be met:
The action itself must be good in
itself or at least morally
indifferent.

The

good effect must precede the

evil effect or at least be
simultaneous to it.

Natural Law Ethics Principles

The

intention of the agent should be

directed towards the good effect, never to
the evil effect. The foreseen evil may not
be intended or approved, but merely
permitted to occur. (secondary objective or
indirectly intended)

Proportionality:

the good effect must be

more important than or at least equal to the
bad effect. There must be proportionate
and sufficient reason for allowing the evil
effect to occur while performing the action.

Natural Law Ethics Principles

The principle of totality the whole is more important

than the parts; it justifies the sacrificing of one part or
organ only insofar as the general well-being of the
whole body requires it.

The principle of inviolability of life life if Gods and has

been loaned to us, hence it is sacred and inviolable.

The principle of sexuality and procreation two-fold

purpose:

(1) the procreation and nurturing of children, and

(2) the expression of loving union and companionship.

Both purposes must be achieved only within the conjugal

bond.

Natural Law Ethics

In

the medical context

Medical experimentation totality and double effect

Euthanasia & suicide stewardship and inviolability of life

Abortion sexuality and procreation

Delivery of health care 3 determinants of moral action

(the agent, the means, the end); makes it more human or
even Christian.

Natural Law Ethics

Difficulties

The basic difficulty is geared to the Aristotelian

assumption of teleological arrangement of nature. Nature
does nothing in vain. The basis of this is the belief on the
existence of a creator or divine planner.

Another objection is that conscience is nothing but a byproduct of ones upbringing and development, so that it
differs from one individual to another. (virtually an ethical
relativism in disguise)

Rosss Ethics

William David Ross, a British Aristotelian scholar and

moral philosopher, presented a rule-deontological
theory I his book The Right and the Good

Influenced by utilitarianism, he rejects the precept that

an action is validated by its consequences.

Though he was a deontologist like Kant, he considers

absolute principles too rigid.

Rosss Ethics

Is it morally justified, to lie to someone who has no

right to know about it? Does a questioner have the right
to know the truth which is not due him?

Despite Kants absolutism, Ross perceived the ethical

significance of rules in the medical context, although
rules should not be so absolute and inflexible that there
are no exceptions.

Rosss Ethics

Rules should serve as guidelines, they must be adjusted

or modified, if not set aside, depending upon our
perception of what is right and good.

Consider the predicament of whether or not one should

lie to a terminally ill patient about his/her condition.

Rosss Ethics

Right and good are distinct from each other.

Rightness acts

Moral goodness motives

Consider also the nonmoral properties surrounding the

act. (what, why)

Rosss Ethics

Actual duty and prima facie duty

If moral rules come into conflict with each other, we make

a distinction between prima facie duty and actual duty.

Actual ones real duty in a given situation. It is the

action one ought to choose from among many other
actions

Prima facie one ought to perform when other relevant

factors are not taken into account

Rosss Ethics

2 principles to resolve conflicting duties

First act in accordance with the stronger, more stringent

or more severe prima facie duty

Second, act in accordance with the prima facie duty,

which has a greater balance of rightness over wrongness
compared to other prima facie duties.

Rosss Ethics

We have to rely on our moral intuitions (intuitionism) as

the ultimate guide in particular cases.

Learn and discern the facts of the case

Consider the possible consequences of our actions

Reflect on our prima facie duties

Decide the best course of action under the circumstances

Rosss Ethics

Seven types of prima facie duties

Fidelity

Reparation

Gratitude

Justice

Beneficence

Self-improvement

Nonmaleficence

Rosss Ethics

In the medical context

We have to show discernment and sensitivity with regard

to the unique aspects of varying situations before making a
moral decision

A synthesis of utilitarianism and kantian ethics

Rosss Ethics

Difficulties

It is practically impossible for all individuals to be able to

discern the same moral principles and prima facie duties.

Leads back to ethical relativism

Reliance to our intuition, our subjective perception of

what and how things ought to be.

Rawls Theory of Justice

John Rawls, Harvard philosopher,in his A Theory of

Justice, has attempted a brilliant synthesis of the
strengths of utilitarianism and of Kantian and Rosss
Deontological views

Utilitarianism lack of justice

Built on both Kants and Rosss fundamental notion of

the ultimate dignity of human beings his concept of
social morality, which is the basis of social justice

Rawls Theory of Justice

the original position, a hypothetical situation of a

community of individuals living under the veil of
ignorance. All are self-interested and rational. All
choices and decisions would be fair (justice)

What if some individuals introduce principles that would

promote inequalities? Slavery is good

Rawls Theory of Justice

Rational people would choose a strategy by which they

could select from many alternatives the one whose
worst possible result would be better that those of the
other alternatives.

This is the context of social justice accdg to Rawls,

through which we recognize our duties to ourselves and
to others.

Rawls Theory of Justice

Theory of justice

Every individual is inviolable.

An erroneous theory is tolerable in the absence of a good

one.

Individual liberties should be restricted in order to

maintain equality of opportunity

Rawls Theory of Justice

Principles of justice

Equal access to the basic human rights and liberties

Fair equality of opportunity and the equal distribution of

socio-economic inequalities

This 2-fold principle of justice guarantees the worth and

self-respect of the individual

Rawls Theory of Justice

Justice in human relations 4 types of duties

Fairness in or dealings with others

Fidelity

Respect for persons

Beneficence

Natural duties:

The duty of justice

The duty of helpings others in need or in jeopardy

The duty not to harm or injure others

The duty to keep our promises

Rawls Theory of Justice

In the medical context

Recommends the legitimacy of paternalism

Exploitation is not morally legitimate

Allocation of resources

Order of priority

Rawls Theory of Justice

Difficulties

Hypothetical situation rational beings

Restriction of liberties utility principle, despite his

objection to utilitarianisms lack of justice